Joc Pederson’s Dodgers fan shoutout accidentally stung

Instead of simply celebrating a Super Bowl victory for the city of champions in the city of champions, Los Angeles Dodgers fans have been forced to defend their 2020 World Series title all over again.

Remember, way back in the Bubble times, when the Lakers and Dodgers captured rings just a few weeks apart from one another, something we will absolutely never see again (pending another pandemic that shuffles the NBA schedule beyond recognition)?

It was wonderful! And, for everyone’s safety, we legally couldn’t gather to celebrate in the streets with hundreds of thousands of other fans (even though many fans did, in disorganized fashion).

And then … most of us moved on. It felt sort of bizarre that the title runs lacked a cathartic moment, and every so often, a columnist posited the two teams should share a parade when things got safer, but no one in power floated a concrete plan.

… Until the Rams won the Super Bowl on Sunday and power broker LeBron James got the conversation going again, alongside Justin Turner. Could this actually happen? Was there a world where it would? Or was this ultimately just going to lead to another load of Mickey Mouse mockery Dodgers fans never asked for?

Ex-Dodgers star Joc Pederson made us sad with his World Series parade take.

Unfortunately, the latter. Obviously the latter.

Rival fans, with no sense of decorum, blasted the 2020 champions for making the more updated title about them. On-field rivals, like Braves reliever Tyler Matzek, renounced the pursuit; he called the Bubble titles fake before backing off and saying it’s simply been too long since they’ve passed for a celebration to make sense.

Even local columnists took shots, with Bill Plaschke recommending the King stand back.

Sadly, Dodgers fans also caught a stray from beloved former LA outfielder Joc Pederson, who was just trying to help.

Pederson, who agreed with LeBron wholeheartedly, pointed out how awesome his Braves parade was this past fall, and rubbed in how the city of Los Angeles really “missed out” on the similar experience they’d earned.

He was trying to be nice. Of course he was.

But, still, Pederson’s well-wishes just served to remind the city of Los Angeles what was owed to them, and what they will never get back.

Because public sentiment — even locally — does not seem to be in their corner. Could there have been a wayward cameo at the Rams parade from a Dodgers star mid-lockout? It could’ve happened, theoretically.

But it would not be the same, and anyone trying will never capture the moment of the 2020 zeitgeist, when basically all was wrong with the world except for the Dodgers and Lakers.

The departed slugger is right. We really missed out — past tense.

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